“Who is this Gatsby?” This question strings together the narrative of the trailer for the up-coming F Scott Fitzgerald adaption,‘The Great Gatsby’, released earlier this week. Of course, this 2.4 minute splicing of cleverly timed scenes and artfully disjointed dialogue provides no definitive answer to the question that haunts its characters, however, it does give the audience an inkling of the sort of product that Warner Bros. will release come Christmas.

During his film career, Australian director Baz Luhrmann has varied his subject matter in both scope and substance– finding inspiration in the domestic, such as in the 1992 dark comedy ‘Strictly Ballroom’, and in the sweeping epic, typified by his 2001 musical romance ‘Moulin Rouge!’ Nonetheless, throughout his cinematic catalogue, Luhrmann has managed to maintain a strong and very idiosyncratic aesthetic. As a result, it is unsurprising that the director’s style permeates every second of his carefully crafted trailer.

In this movie, Luhrmann will retell the seminal story of Nick Carraway, a young man thrust into the whirl-wind social life of elite, disillusioned, post-war Americans who finds himself intertwined with an illicit, uncontainable romance between two extraordinary people.

The actors operate within a world which is purely Luhrmann in its incredible lushness. While the director, and Tobey Maguire’s Nick Carroway, firmly set the movie in a 1920s New York, there is such a great vivacity to Luhrmann’s touch that he elevates the action above the painstakingly reproduced costumes and architecture into a dramatic space that seems almost unreal.

This feeling of being out of time and space is exacerbated by the use of Jay Z ft. Kanye West’s ‘No Church in the Wild’ and U2′s ‘Love is Blindness’ to score the images that flicker on the screen. The pacing of the clips towards the end of the trailer, interspersed by luxurious, gold-plated credits, lead the final moments of the trailer into a fever-pitch of drama as the narrative approaches incoherency.

Baz Luhrmann has never been known for his cinematic restraint and whoever is responsible for this trailer reproduces the feel of Luhrmann’s movies to a tee.

This being said, it is important to note that Fitzgerald’s own elan comfortably shares the stage with Luhrmann’s artistic tendencies. While the presence of Bollywood Superstar Amitabh Bachchan as conspicuously Jewish lawyer Meyer Wolfsheim seems a bit of a misnomer, it is evident even in the trailer that the rest of the cast has a strong grasp on their roles.

Enormously talented indie darling Carey Mulligan fully encapsulates the essence of flighty Daisy and Leonardio DiCaprio’s Jay Gatsby oozes charm while, post-’Spiderman’ Tobey Maguire once again plays the perfect fly on the wall as Nick. Even ‘Animal Kingdom’s’ Joel Edgerton exudes a strong presence as Tom Buchanan despite his lack of screen time.

Quite apart from the on-point casting, it is clear that Luhrmann has maintained some of the most structurally important and viscerally memorable moments of the novel; the scene where Gatsby pulls out his shirts and the disquieting image of Dr T J Eckleberg are both conserved, as is Nick’s third-party narration.

Essentially, it looks like ‘The Great Gatsby’ will keep the shape of the classic novel littering bookshelves of high-school students everywhere, though this silhouette will be re-seen through the lens of one of the most vivid and stylized directors of this film epoch.

And, considering that the trailer’s YouTube viewcount had passed a million views within the first 24 hours of its release, it would seem that the world is eager to have the opportunity to gaze at the characters they’ve always known through these new, powerfully tinted glasses.

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This June, it’s time for Peter Parker, better known as the Amazing Spider-Man, to cross worlds and meet Miles Morales…the all-new Spider-Man?

Marvel has announced Spider-Men, an all-new five issue landmark story from award-winning author Brian Michael Bendis (Avengers VS. X-Men, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man), red-hot artist Sara Pichelli (Ultimate Comics Spider-Man) and acclaimed cover artist Jim Cheung (Avengers VS. X-Men), which brings Peter Parker and Miles Morales together for the first time. That’s right, the Spider-Man from two different realities—the Marvel Universe and Ultimate Comics Universe—bring their worlds together for a battle no one web-head could win.

When Spider-Man tracks down one of his deadliest villains, he suddenly finds himself thrust into another world where Peter Parker is dead…and there’s a new Spider-Man in town. As these two heroes learn the truth about their identities and their universes, they’ll embark on a journey that’ll leave them forever changed—and reveal a startling truth about a key player in the Spider-Man mythos.

“This year is the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man and we’re so happy that the stars aligned for us to tell a Spider-Man story that nobody has ever seen before,” said Bendis. “It’s an honor and a privilege to present both this story and these characters to fans on such an auspicious occasion.

The work Sara has done on Spider-Men is a step above the already high standard that she has set for herself on our Ultimate Comics Spider-Man series. For me, this is a celebration of the best character in mainstream comics and some of the best art mainstream comics has to offer.”

Each issue of Spider-Men features variants covers by some of the biggest names in comics including Humberto Ramos  (Amazing Spider-Man), Mike Deodato (New Avengers), Marcos Martin (Amazing Spider-Man), Terry Dodson (Avenging Spider-Man), Travis Charest (Captain America) and Sara Pichelli.

“Knowing how much Brian loves and respects Spider-Man, there’s no way I wouldn’t want to work on Spider-Men with him,” said Sara Pichelli. “It’s going to be an explosive celebration of Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary—are you ready?”

In 1962’s Amazing Fantasy #15, the world first met Peter Parker and saw him become the hero Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. Soon after, Spider-Man became a pop culture sensation, launching multiple television series, blockbuster films and some of the most popular comics of all time. Then in 2011, Marvel introduced Miles Morales, a new character of African American and Hispanic descent, who became Spider-Man in the Ultimate Comics Universe after that world’s Peter Parker perished.

“This is one of the biggest stories in Marvel history,” said Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief, Marvel Entertainment. “Peter Parker and Miles Morales are two of our most popular characters and fans have been clamoring for them to meet—we’ve got quite a few surprises in store for both characters. This is only the beginning of how we’re celebrating Spider-Man’s spectacular 50th Anniversary.”

This June, swing into action with world’s most amazing super heroes in Spider-Men #1.

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It’s Daredevil vs. the Bruiser: Round One, as Marvel presents a first look at Daredevil #6 From the critically acclaimed creative team of Mark Waid and Marcos Martin, Daredevil must go head to head against a contract fighter who can’t be put down and making Matt’s life a living nightmare.

How Daredevil survives, you’ll have to read to find out — but the result makes him the most dangerous man in the Marvel Universe. Fans can get in on the action this November.

Also coming this winter, prepare for a whole new brand of terror as the critically acclaimed creative team of Zeb Wells and Clayton Crain let Cletus Kasady loose on America’s heartland in Carnage U.S.A. #1.

Leaving a wake of bloodshed, no one is safe from Carnage’s lunacy — not even the Avengers!

Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and more of Earth’s Mightiest must go on a brutal hunt to capture Cletus Kasady before the American heartland falls under his mass-murdering spell. Buckle in for the most mind-blowing cross country tour fans have ever taken in Carnage U.S.A. #1, this December.

Finally, experience the explosive finale to Jason Aaron & Marc Silvestri’s first arc of Incredible Hulk as Marvel also present the Incredible Hulk #3 for the holidays.

It’s all come down to this — Banner’s genetically altered, gamma irradiated beasts vs. the Jade Giant. Three monsters enter, and only one side can emerge victorious. With a powerhouse army at Banner’s disposal, Hulk must seek out Amanda Von Doom for help.

But in doing so – his destiny will be forever changed. No fan can miss out on the Earth shattering conclusion of Asunder in Incredible Hulk #3.

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The series everyone’s talking about kicks it up a gear in this first look at Avenging Spider-Man #2 With Free Digital Code. From the blockbuster creative team of Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira pit the team-up of Red Hulk & Spidey against an unstoppable army of Moloids.

The new feature introduces with every purchase of a polybagged issue of Avenging Spider-Man #2 a special code to be redeemed for a free digital copy of the issue on the Marvel Comics app. As a result of the overwhelming support for the first free digital copy promotion, Marvel has proudly announced that from now on, every issue of Avenging Spider-Man’s action packed first arc will be polybagged with a code for a digital copy.

That means that #1, #2 and #3 will all be including a copy for your for iOS and Android devices, free of charge.

“At New York Comic Con we heard from fans and retailers that this was the most exciting digital comics move of the year because of the added value it gives every copy of Avenging Spider-Man,” said David Gabriel, Marvel SVP of Sales.

“Based on initial orders of over 100,000 units for the first issue—and the steady increase in orders since we’ve begun promotion on this plan—we knew that including a code for a free digital copy in future issues of Avenging Spider-Man not only excites our retailers, but incentivizes fans to come into stores for one of the year’s hottest new releases.

It’s a win-win for everyone with no extra cost to readers and an increased revenue share for retailers.”

This November, no fan can miss the release of Avenging Spider-Man #1. With J. Jonah Jameson held hostage, can Spider-Man and Red Hulk fight back the hordes of underground dwellers to save the day? The high octane web-slinging action continues in December, available in stores with free digital copy and on the Marvel Comics app.

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Over the past few years we have seen a lot of movie remakes or rebooting — has Hollywood run out of ideas or could it be an excuse for making a mistake the first time round? Among the most recent examples, we have seen remakes of movie and television series such as The A-team, Footloose and Fame with The Amazing Spider-man and Superman in the pipes.

If you think they are about to slow down, you should check out the amount of remakes that are in the planning stages. According to OhNoTheyDidnt.livejournal.com there is an extensive list of movies that are being dusted off and ready for a reboot, including Guys and Dolls, Alien, Total recall, Romancing the Stone and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Were these movies that terrible? Why do we need to see them remade?

The new saying in Hollywood seems to be ‘if it’s is not working, let’s go back to the beginning’; the studios seem to be finding big bucks in well-established franchises and rebooting them with young fresh faced stars. But the exciting thing about movies with original ideas is that we don’t know what’s going to happen next; Is the films ending going to make us feel good, sadden us or is it going to shock us?

The problem with these prequels or reboots is that we know how the story is going to end. A reboot can be a risky proposition because it takes some of the drama out of the story.

When Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi were fighting during the Star Wars prequels, we already knew already how that was going to end — we knew Obi Wan would win and Anakin would get burned and be transformed into Darth Vader.

Boxoffice.com editor Phil Contrino says it’s a real test of the filmmaker and the story to use younger, well-established actors for their reboot without running the risk of not having the same “star power.” Films like Indiana Jones, Die Hard, and Rambo are all associated with the actors who played these characters and bringing in someone new may not have the same impact.

So if that’s the case, then why reboot? Well one of the reasons is that it’s much less cost efficient. By the time you get into the third or fourth sequel, the actors and directors demand ridiculous amount of money, says Contrino. There is also a lot of control over the project at this point so if the whole thing is scrapped, the writers and producers can start fresh and simpler.

This is one of the reasons why the Spiderman movies starring Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst was ended and rebooted with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone — it was just too difficult to make the movie with the same cast and crew. Another factor for reboots is that it bring a new energy to the franchise. Contrino points out if a reboot is successful, it sets the stage for a really good rebooted sequel.

After Batman Begins came The Dark Knight and this movie earned $530 million at the box office, becoming the 3rd film of all time and will be followed by another sequel in 2012, The Dark Knight Rises.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/officialateammovie

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